Langston Hughes Essay -- essays research papers fc

Langston HughesThroughout many of Langston Hughes poetry, there seems to be a very strong theme of racism. Poems such as Ballad of the Landlord, I, Too, and Dinner Guest Me are some good examples of that theme.The Ballad of the Landlord addresses the issue of prejudice in the sense of race as strong as mark. The lines My roof has sprung a leak. / Dont you member I told you about it/ Way last week? (Hughes 2/4) show the reader that the vocaliser, the tenant, is of a much lower class than his landlord. It also shows that the landlord could care less of what condition his building is in as long as the money is still coming in. Well, thats Ten Bucks moren Ill pay you / work on you fix this house up new. (Hughes 11/12) shows that the speaker may be cleverer than originally thought because he is hitting the landlord right where it hurts his wallet. At this point it seems that the speaker may actually win and get his home fixed up, until he threatens the landlord in fifth stanza. Thats when it all turns around. The landlord uses that threat to get the speaker, who we now get under ones skin out, is black, thrown in jail.Richard K. Barksdale wrote in 1940, Ballad of the Landlord was a rather innocuous rendering of an imaginary dialogue between a disgruntled tenant and a tight-fisted landlord. He then goes on to comment about the literature having once again pitted the haves against the have-nots. According to him, the landlord / tenant confrontation was just another i...